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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 21, 2018)
Friday, September 21, 2018 East Oregonian Under right terms, Kavanaugh accuser may testify after all Page 7A y l i Health & F m a F itne s s Day By ALAN FRAM and LISA MASCARO Associated Press WASHINGTON — Christine Blasey Ford may testify against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kava- naugh after all, her attorney said Thursday, breathing new life into the prospect of a dramatic Senate show- down next week over Ford’s accusation that he assaulted her when both were in high school. The preference would be for Ford to testify next Thursday, and she doesn’t want Kavanaugh in the same room, her attorney told Judiciary Commit- tee staff in a 30-minute call that also touched on security concerns and others issues, according to a Senate aide who wasn’t authorized to discuss the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity. Ford is willing to tell her story to the Judiciary Com- mittee, whose senators will vote on Kavanaugh’s con- firmation — but only if agreement can be reached on “terms that are fair and which ensure her safety,” the attorney said in an email earlier Thursday. In the call, she said Ford needs time to secure her family, prepare her testimony and travel to Washington. No decisions were reached, the aide said. The discussion revived the possibility that the panel would hold an electrify- ing campaign-season hear- ing at which both Ford and President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee could give their versions of what did or didn’t hap- pen at a party in the 1980s. Kavanaugh, now a judge on the powerful U.S. Court of Appeals for the Dis- trict of Columbia Circuit, has repeatedly denied her allegation. The accusation has jarred the 53-year-old conservative jurist’s prospects for win- ning confirmation, which until Ford’s emergence last week had seemed all but cer- tain. It has also bloomed into a broader clash over whether women alleging abuse are taken seriously by men and how both political parties address such claims with the advent of the #MeToo AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite Protesters opposed to President Donald Trump’s Su- preme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, demonstrate in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington on Thursday. movement — a theme that could echo in this Novem- ber’s elections for control of Congress. Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, has scheduled a hearing for Monday morning, and he and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., have indicated it would be Ford’s only chance to make her case. Republicans are anxious to move ahead to a vote by the committee, where they hold an 11-10 majority, and then by the full Senate, which they control, 51-49. Taylor Foy, spokes- man for Republicans on the panel, said after the call that Grassley “will consult with his colleagues on the com- mittee. He remains commit- ted to providing a fair forum for both Dr. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh.” Attorney Debra Katz said anew that Ford, 51, a psy- chology professor in Cali- fornia, has received death threats and for safety reasons has relocated her family. “She wishes to testify, provided that we can agree on terms that are fair and which ensure her safety,” Katz wrote in the email, which was obtained by The Associated Press after first being reported by The New York Times. In the call later Thurs- day, Katz asked the commit- tee to subpoena Mark Judge, whom Ford has named as the other teen in the room at the time. Judge has told the committee he does not recall the incident and does not want to speak publicly. Should Ford testify, espe- cially in public, it would pit the words of two dis- tinguished professionals against each other as televi- sion close-ups capture every emotion. Assessing them would be not just the com- mittee’s 21 senators —only four of whom are women, all Democrats — but also millions of viewing voters. Underscoring the sensi- tivity of all-male GOP sena- tors grilling a woman who’s alleged abuse, Republicans are considering reaching out to female attorneys who might question Ford, accord- ing to a person familiar with the situation but who wasn’t authorized to discuss it pub- licly and spoke on condition of anonymity. If Ford opts not to partici- pate, Republicans could well dispense with the hearing to avoid giving Democrats a forum for peppering Kava- naugh with embarrassing questions. They would argue that they’d offered Ford sev- eral options for describ- ing her accusation, but that she’d snubbed them. Kavanaugh, who’s been eager to testify, said he was ready to appear Monday. “I will be there,” he wrote Grassley in a letter. “I con- tinue to want a hearing as soon as possible, so that I can clear my name.” Ford has contended that at a house party in Wash- ington’s Maryland suburbs, a drunken Kavanaugh tried undressing her and stifling her cries on a bed before she fled. BRIEFLY Stocks at records; Dow beats all-time high from January Wall Street delivered another set of milestones Thursday as a wave of buying sent U.S. stocks solidly higher, driving the Dow Jones Industrial Average above the all-time high it closed at in January. The S&P 500, the benchmark for many index funds, also hit a new high, eclipsing the peak it reached last month. Technology stocks, banks and health care companies accounted for much of the broad rally. Energy companies declined along with crude oil prices. A weaker dollar, which helps U.S. exporters, and a mix of mostly encourag- ing economic reports helped put investors in a buying mood, a turnaround from ear- lier in the week when the U.S. and China each announced a new round of tariffs on each other’s goods, triggering a sell-off. “Some of the economic data that came out today continued to show strength,” said Lindsey Bell, an investment strat- egist with CFRA. “Given the strength in the economy, backed by the stimulus from tax reform as well as just fiscal stim- ulus in general, that should be able to off- set some of the impact that we’re going to get from tariffs as we go into the end of the year.” Four dead, including suspect, after Maryland shooting ABERDEEN, Md. (AP) — A woman working a temporary job at a drugstore warehouse in Maryland got into an argument at work Thursday morning and began shoot- ing colleagues, killing three before fatally turning the gun on herself, authorities and witnesses said. Workers at the Rite Aide distribution cen- ter in northeastern Maryland described terri- fying moments of “crazy” gunfire and peo- ple screaming and running in all directions after the shooting. Others said they helped the wounded, one person tying blood-soaked jeans around a man’s injured leg in a bid to stop the bleeding. Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler said at a news conference that the woman was later identified as a temporary employee of the distribution center, Snochia Moseley of Baltimore County. “She had reported for her workday as usual, and around 9 a.m. the shooting began, striking victims both outside the business and inside the facility,” Gahler said. “We do not at this time have a motive for this sense- less crime.” Krystal Watson, 33, said her husband, Eric, works at the facility and told her that the suspect had been arguing with some- body else near a time clock after a “town hall meeting.” Saturday, September 22, 2018 9am-2pm at Hermiston High School FREE Health & Wellness Event for All Ages • Teddy Bear Clinic • Cooking Classes • Dental Screens and Onsite Treatment for Uninsured • On-site Mammograms • Yoga and Zumba sessions • SHIBA • Early childhood Activities • Community Health Resources and Programs • Screenings: • Blood pressures, lipid, A1c/diabetes, hearing, vision, balance, body composition, respiratory health and more!! • Helmet Fittings • Giant Inflatable Colon • Door Prizes • Health Snacks • And SO Much More for Children, Seniors and Everyone in Between! Florence-weary South Carolina could get more record flooding WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) — As riv- ers swollen to record levels started to recede Thursday in North Carolina, officials tried to head off potential environmental disas- ters and prepared for more record flooding downstream in South Carolina. Roads were still clogged with people try- ing to make it back to where the floods had creeped back, leaving silty mud on walls and floors. Crews closed some bridges and reopened others as trillions of gallons of water continued its long, meandering jour- ney to the Atlantic Ocean. Potential environmental problems remained. Duke Energy issued a high-level emergency alert after floodwaters from the Cape Fear River overtopped an earthen dike and inundated a large lake at a closed power plant near Wilmington, North Carolina. The utility said it did not think any coal ash was at risk. State-owned utility Santee Cooper in South Carolina is placing an inflatable dam around a coal ash pond near Conway, saying the extra 2.5 feet should be enough to keep floodwaters out. Officials warned human, hog and other animal waste were mixing in with floodwaters in the Carolinas. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster estimated damage from the flood in his state at $1.2 billion in a letter that says the flood- ing will be the worst disaster in the state’s modern history. McMaster asked Congres- sional leaders to hurry federal aid. Questions? Contact angie.treadwell@oregonstate.edu